Hoop-lug.



Patented .lune |0,`I902. E. B. MOORE. v HOOP LUG.

plicaton (Ap Bled Mar. F1, 1902.)

2 Sheets-Sheet l.

NSN

no. 702,024. y Patented :une l0, |902. Y R. M0005. 0

HOOP LUG.

(Application med Mar. 4, 1902.)

. 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

l 1o adjustable hoop lugsbr'couplings.

v UNITED" STATES kPATENT OFFICE.

ROBERTMB. MOORE, OF sim FRANCISCO, CAL;FORN'IA.`

Hoop-LUG.`

SPECIFICATION forming part of *Letters Patent No. 702,024, dated June 10,1902.

` Application iled March 4, 1902. Serial No. 96,579. (No model.)

citizen of the United States, residing in the" city and county of San Francisco, State of 5 California, have invented an Improvement in Hoop-Lugs; and I hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, c lear, and eXact description of thesame. i g i' y'My invention relates; to improvements in Its object is to provide a simple device by which the ends of hoops orrods used to hold the stavesor like component parts of barrels, tanks, conduits, dac., together are united and .t whereby the proper adjustment of said ends may be more readily eiected than by. the couplings ordinarily employed.

It consists, essentially, of a lug or couplingblock having one end adapted to embrace the o head end of a hoop-bolt, a plurality of bifurcated radially-disposed projections on said block, and means by which the opposite end of the bolt is adapted-to be engaged, guided,

, and held between said projections, which lat- 5 ter serve as a meansV for adjusting the length' of said bolt.v It comprises modifications and details which will be more fully set'fforth hereinafter, hav-V ing reference to the accompanying drawings,

3o in whichv Figure 1 isa sectional view of my improved hoop-lug, taken on the line wxofFig. 2. Fig.

2 is a top View of same. Fig.Y 3 is a front viewj f of same. Fig. 4: is a sectional view of a modiication taken on line y y of Fig. 6. Fig. 5 is a side view of same. Fig.6 is a top view of same.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, A-represents a section of a tank,conduit, or other'tubular structure 4o made up of theelements or-staves 2 and held Itogether bythe hoop or securing-rods 3. One

vend of a rodor boltlis provided with a head 4, and the other end'is threaded and adapted to receive a Washer and nut 5.YV The coupling or lug consists of a block or e plate 6, longitudinally-concaved to fit the contour of the tank and provided with a plu-V rality of outwardlyextending projections or stop members 7. The latter are bifurcated in 5cl the line of the axis of the lug, and the bifuri v cations are adapted to straddle the threaded end of the bolt.

0n the under side of onev endfof the lug a slot or eye 8 is lformed, into which the headed end of the'b'olt may be slipped. The lug is chamferedout; as at 9, 55

intermediate of the projections 7, andthevertical wall of the channelso'formled'gadjacent to the eye, aftordsa seat forv the'head. "f Two narrow horizontal ledgesv 10, oneon either side of the'channel`9 and separated aspace `6o greater than the diameter of the',bolt','(where by the' bolt maybe passed ,up between them,) serve'tojengage the under sideof the bolthead when the latter is drawn forward to its seat'. These ledges prevent the bolt from be- 65 ingac'cidentallydisengaged frorn'thelug when the work'man'is bringing ,the ends ofthe bolt together; as so frequentlyhappens Awith lugs which'do not have such ledgesor 'eqniil'alent stop"rneans,but'depend on'tension to retain the 7e boltin the slot. Again, this mode ofrlocking the bolt-head is preferable to'forming the head of the lug with a round eye',A through which it is'necessary to run the whole rod inorder-` y to .get the lug seated againstthebltlhead. In operation one ofl these bolts,*which may vary from threeto onehundred feet or more in'length, according to the size of the tankfor'" which'it is intended, is: placed inl position around'the tank and its threaded e'nd inserted "8o betweenthe-fbifurcated portionspo."Y 'the' pro l jections` 7. The longerrods are in sections, with interposed lugs betweenu'the sections. Tlennt '5,"with its washer, is 'thenjlocked l against one or the otherA of the projections. 8 5 Irl-practice when a tank is 4rst'put up the nut will be tightened against the rearm'ostof the projections. If subsequentlyylthe hoop becomes' loosened, instead oftaking O the 'nut and building up against `the .stop with a 9o number of washers fora' distance'of severalVr inches, as is customary now where only a single lock-stop 7 is used, I havebut to screw a second nut 5 onto the end Ofythe bolt-.and i tighten it against the outer projection? thus avoiding the necessity of slackening the first nut, and so allow the bolt to fall from or be come displaced on the tank'. V

This device aiords not only a neater ap-` pearance than if it were necessary to take up Io slack by means of washers alone, but it olers a firmer seat for the nut and gives a wide range of adjustment. p

While Ihave only shown two stop members 7, it is obvious that by prolonging the length of the block I could form as many of these projectionsthereon as I saw fit.

Practically the limit to which these bolts can be upset (which part onlys threaded) is about six inches. Consequently each additional stop is equivalent to so much additional threaded length of bolt, or, differently put, it saves the expense of having a bolt especially threaded for a special length, which latter may vary but a few inches from that of a bolt on hand, but which cannot by any means be made to fit in this particular instance if a lug with only one stop is used. Moreover, by making the lug of malleable metal and leaving the portion 11 between the stops suficiently thin consistent with necessary strength, so that it may bend when the rod is tightened, the coupling readily accommodates itself to arcs of different radii, and so practically one size of lug will serve for all sizes of tanks. The lesser projections 12 at the rear end of the coupling engage the bolt on either side and preserve the proper alinement of the bolt and lug.

In Figs. '-1, 5, 6 I have represented a modi- Iied form of my invention, which shows the same principle of a plurality of stops affording lengthwise adjustment and also the same form of eye for engaging the head of the bolt and ledges for retaining said head in the eye. In this case the coupling or lug comprises two members 6n and 6b. The former consists of a block or plate having the projections or stop members 71. The locking projections or stops 7 are arranged in pairs, and ,there may be one or more pairs, according to the length of the plate and the size of the tank. These stops are rounded at their ends and have their forward walls concaved or notched, as shown. The coupling member 6" consists of ablock having an elongated body portion with the bifurcated front and rear end projections 13 and 14, respectively, which are adapted to straddle the threaded end of the rod 3. The rear walls of the projections 13 are concaved or notched and shaped to form the rounded hooks l5, which are complements of the members or hooks 7 L" on the coupling member 6. The space intermediate of the projections 13 and 14 is adapted to accommodate the hooks 7, so that the lnember 6b may overlap and engage the member', and the projections llt are made always to bear against the side of the tank. Accordingly the length of one member isalways proportionate to that of the other, as it is intended that the span between the front and rear end projections 13 and 14 of the member 6b should be able to include all the hooks 7, as when the coupling is in its shortened position, as shown. 'In operation the member 6, suitably engaged on the headed end of the hoop-rod, is placed against the tank. The threaded end of the rod, with the washer and nut 5 in position,

is inserted into the eye portion 16 ofthe member 6b, with the bifurcated projection 14: straddling the rod. The two members are then made to engage by means of the interlocking hooks 15 and one or other of the pairs of hooks 7n. The hoop is then tightened by screwing up the nut 5. An important feature of this form of the invention is that when the members are thus interlocked and the hooks 7 and 15 engaging on either side ot' the rod, as they do, the rod itself serves to preserve the alinement and to prevent any lateral displacement of the parts, rendering any other guide means unnecessary. The hooks 7a and 15 being shaped and curved asshown serve as knuckle-joints, whereby the coupling members readily adjust themselves to tanks of varying sizes. The portion 1ln of the member 6 is sufficiently shallow to allow the lug to conform to the contour of the tank when the boltis tightened. By this device both ends of the rod are brought into proper alinement and are brought closer to the periphery of the tank than in most devices of asimilar nature, and consequently no considerable portion of even a single stave is unsupported. If subsequently the hoop becomes loosened, the relative position of the members may be shifted and the nut turned accordingly, so that this device practically affords a double means of adjustment.

In tightening these bolts they are put to a strain nearly equal to their tensile strength. As a result it not infrequently happens that a nut splits or the thread will be stripped or the corners of the nut will become rounded, so that a wrench will not hold. An obvious advantage following from the use of a lug of the character shown in Fig. l is that two nuts 5 5 may be placed on the bolt at the same time and tightened gradually against each of the projections. The strain on each nut can therefore be made to be but a part of what it would be were a single nut used, and the actual threaded surface of the bolt engaged is doubled.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In ahoop-couplin g, acoupling-block having one end adapted to embrace the head of ahoop-bolt, a plurality of bifurcated radiallydisposed projections on said block, and means whereby said bolt may be held behind one or the other of said projections.

2. In a hoop-coupling, a coupling-block having a plurality of outwardly-extending projections arranged in pairs along the length of said block, said block adapted at one end to receive the headed end of a hoop-bolt, and means whereby the bolt may be held behind one or the other of said pairs of projections.

3. In a hoop-coupling, a block having an eye at one end adapted to receive the headed end of a hoop-bolt, said eye consisting of a slot on the under side of said block through IOO IIO

i l I5 v the rst-named members, and means upon either of said members for engaging an end `which the non maybe inserted, said sion enlarged lin that portion adapted toreceive the head, lateral projections on the'walls of said enlarged portion between which thefbody Y portion of the bolt alone may pass'but which bear against the under side of the head and prevent the boltdisengaging from the block when the bolt yis drawn forward-to its seat. J j andfmeans 4by which-the threaded end of the v y m bolt may be held upon said block.

4. An adjustable hoop-lug including two separable interlocking members one ofsaid membersv having a l plurality of .projections and the other member having a single projection to engage either'of'the projections of v ofa hoop-bolt.

" members for engaging an end of a hoop-'.bolt.

.ltso

An adjustable hoop-lug including two separable members said members having interlockingl projections, and-means upon the 6.v An adjustable hoop-lug including two .f separable members said members havingY lugs adapted to interlock said lugs forked to receive the 'hoopfbolt, and means upon either member for engaging an end of said bolt.

,7. A hoop lug or coupling-including two members having interlocking `forked lugs,

each-of said members adapted to engage an endA of -a hoop boit or rod. f

'8. A hoop lug or coupling consisting of two members leach of which is adapted to engage an end of a hoop bolt or rod, hook projections on each `of said members, said projections adapted tointerlock on either side of the hoop- I bolt'. j

. 9. vAhoop lu'g'or coupling consisting of two members adapted to engage an end of a hoop bolt or rod, one of said membershaving a plurality of h ook projections engaging on either side of the hoop-rod and complementaryfhook projections onv theother member f engaging the hooks on saidirst member.

ll0. A hoop lug'or coupling consisting of two members, one of said membersprovided with a perforated end block adaptedto embrace the head of the hoop-bolt, a plurality of bifurcated' hooks on said member, the other member having anieye in which' the other end of the bolt is received and a bifurcated hook projection adapted to engage the hooks on the first member whereby the two members are adjustable in length.

' 1l. Ahoop lug or coupling consisting of two members, meansupon one of said memi bers by which the eye of the hoop-bolt may be embraced, a 'plurality of bifurcated'hooks or projections on said member, means upon the second member whereby the otherv end of the bolt is engaged, hookprojections on the latter member engagingfthe hooks of said as a knuckle-joint whereby the two members havea limited hinge movement to allow them to adjust themselves to arcs of different radii.l

flrst member, saidinterlockinghooksadapted 'l 12.',Th'e combinationr with alhoop bolt org rod,'of' two coupling members,'one of said l 7o i embrace the head of the hoopbolt,'a plurality members havingv an vey'evportion yadapted to of bifurcated hooks on said member, an eye, portion on the second member'adaptedto enf' gage the other end of the bolt, hooks onthe I second member engaging 'the hooks on the iirst member, said hooks adapted'tostraddle the hoop-bolt and serving to prevent lateral displacement of the members. In witness whereof vI have hereuntojset my hand. v I` f Y ROBERT B. MOORE..

Witnesses:

S.'H. NoURsE, y I v.Tassin C. BRODIE. 

